Colorado has 64 counties. Of these, 43 counties have mountains and 21 are on the plains. The plains counties include Denver, Colorado's state capitol. Climbing the county highpoints is an interesting and educational challenge, which offers a well-rounded sampling of the state's geography. All county high points may be climbed by a class 4 or easier route, putting all 64 highpoints within reach of healthy individuals.

Several years ago I developed an interest in climbing all the mountainous county highpoints in my home state of Colorado. This goal has led me into a variety of hiking experiences, into many of the remote corners of the state. Each highpoint offers unique features and its own particular beauty, as well as unique mountaineering and orienteering challenges.

Blanca Peak, three counties

The elevation of the highpoints in mountainous counties ranges from 9836' Thunder Butte in Douglas County, to 14,440' Mount Elbert in Lake County. In the plains counties, elevations are mostly below 6000', although Elbert County, east of Douglas County, reaches 7360'. As you would expect, several counties share highpoints in common.

Mountainous Counties

Mountains dominate the western two-thirds of Colorado. All the county highpoints are on mountains documented on SummitPost, though not necessarily on the summits of those mountains. The links in the list below will take you to the appropriate SummitPost page.

County	High Point	Range	Elevation	Information
Alamosa	Blanca Peak	Sangre de Cristo	14,345'	Three counties' high point
Archuleta	Summit Peak	San Juans	13,300'	South San Juan Wilderness
Boulder	Longs Peak	Front Range	14,259'	Rocky Mountain National Park
Chaffee	Mount Harvard	Sawatch	14,420'	Third highest in Colorado
Clear Creek	Grays Peak	Front Range	14,278'	Highest point on North American Continental Divide
Conejos	Conejos Peak	San Juans	13,172'	South San Juan Wilderness
Costilla	Blanca Peak	Sangre de Cristo	14,345'	Three counties' high point
Custer	East summit of Crestone Peak	Sangre de Cristo	14,260'	East summit is 34' lower than west summit
Delta	Mount Lamborn	Elk	11,396'	Gunnison National Forest
Dolores	Mount Wilson	San Juan	14,250'
Douglas	Thunder Butte	Front Range	9,836'	Lowest mountainous highpoint. Site of Hayman Fire.
Eagle	Mount of the Holy Cross	Sawatch	14,005'	Was once a National Monument
El Paso	Pikes Peak	Front Range	14,115'	Can reach the summit by foot, tramway, or car
Fremont	Bushnell Peak	Sangre de Cristo	13,105'	Straddles the Saguache and Fremont county line
Garfield	Flat Top Mountain	Flat Tops	12,354'	Flat Tops Wilderness
Gilpin	James Peak	Indian Peaks	13,294'	James Peak Wilderness
Grand	Pettingell Peak	Front Range	13,553'	on the Continental Divide just north of Eisenhower Tunnel
Gunnison	Castle Peak	Elk	14,265'	High point for Pitkin County also. Southernmost 14er in Elk Range.
Hinsdale	Uncompahgre Peak	San Juan	14,314'	Highest peak on Colorado's western slope
Huerfano	Blanca Peak	Sangre de Cristo	14,345'	Huerfano County high point is slightly northeast of summit
Jackson	Clark Peak	Medicine Bow Mountains	12,951'	Rawah Wilderness
Jefferson	Buffalo Peak	Kenosha	11,589'	Lost Creek Wilderness
La Plata	Mount Eolus	San Juan	14,083'	Remote
Lake	Mount Elbert	Sawatch	14,440'	Colorado state highpoint
Larimer	Hagues Peak	Mummy	13,560'	Rocky Mountain National Park
Las Animas	West Spanish Peak	Sangre de Cristo	13,626'	Spanish Peaks Wilderness
Mesa	Leon Peak	Grand Mesa	11,236'	The summit features a 20th century abandoned fire lookout
Mineral	Phoenix Peak	San Juan	13,895'	Also known as Gwynedd Mountain and Creede Crest. La Garita Wilderness. Near the Wheeler Geological Area.
Moffat	Black Mountain	Elkheads	10,815'	Finding the true summit may be the biggest challenge.
Montezuma	Hesperus Mountain	La Plata	13,232'
Montrose	Castle Rock	San Juan	11,453'	Highest one of 18 officially named Castle Rock's in Colorado
Ouray	Mount Sneffels	San Juan	14,156'	Regarded by many as Colorado's most beautiful mountain.
Park	Mount Lincoln	Mosquito	14,291'
Pitkin	Castle Peak	Elk	14,265'	High point for Gunnison County also. Southernmost 14er in Elk Range.
Pueblo	Greenhorn Mountain	Wet Mountains	12,347'	Greenhorn Mountain Wilderness
Rio Blanco	Northwest arm of Orno Peak	Flat Tops	12,027'	Two miles northwest of Orno Peak's summit
Rio Grande	Bennett Peak	San Juan	13,203'	Walkup grassy slopes
Routt	Mount Zirkel	Park	12,180'	Mount Zirkel Wilderness
Saguache	Crestone Peak	Sangre de Cristo	14,294'	West summit of Crestone Peak
San Juan	Vermilion Peak	San Juan	13,894'	Least populated county
San Miguel	Wilson Peak	San Juan	14,017'	Lizard Head Wilderness
Summit	Grays Peak	Front Range	14,278'	Highest point on North American Continental Divide
Teller	Devil's Playground on Pikes Peak	Front Range	13,060'	Also see Sentinel Point route

Plains Counties

In eastern Colorado, the highpoints are just little rises on the Great Plains, and sometimes not even that. I would not expect to see any of these highpoints on SummitPost. I hope not since these high points have nothing to do with mountaineering. Reaching these highpoints has everything to do with driving long distances over the plains, following directions, gaining access to land, and straining to discern the highest point. It is an rare and unusual person who can enjoy that, but more power to 'em!

County	High Point	Elevation	Information
Adams	DIA Ridge	5,665'	Easy drive up, exit I-70.
Arapahoe	Smoky Hill Ridge	6,215'	No longer outside of town.
Baca	Carrizo Mountain	5,280'	If you can find Carrizo Mountain, the highpoint is a small rise on the mesa top. No permission required.
Bent	San Jose Ranch Mesa	4,855'	Permission and short uphill hike required.
Broomfield	Rocky Flats	5,845'	SE corner of CO 128 and Indiana Street
Cheyenne	Bledsoe Ranch Road	5,255'	Bledsoe Ranch. Permission and short hike required.
Crowley	Schubert Hill	5,220'	Schubert Ranch. 2.5 mile hike.
Denver	Kipling & Belleview	5,685'	Alley just east of Kipling, north of Jellison.
Elbert	Elbert Rock	7,360'	Five areas, including two small rock outcrops, compete for the HP title.
Kiowa	Selenite Bluff	4,690'	Davis Ranch. Near Lincoln County line.
Kit Carson	Bledsoe windmill	5,290'	A mile or two from Cheyenne County highpoint. Both on private land.
Lincoln	County line rise	5,960'	Drive up. Access permission not required.
Logan	State line bluffs	4,940'	On ranchland owned by a private grazing association. Ask permission.
Morgan	Judson Hills	4,935'	Private ranch; contact owner in advance.
Otero	Dry Bluff	5,260'	Comanche National Grassland
Phillips	Phillips county line rise	4,120'	11 areas vy for HP honors. One of them is the lowest county HP in Colorado.
Prowers	Two Buttes	4,711'	Twin peaks rise sharply from the plains, offering a rare climb in eastern Colorado. Private land.
Sedgwick	Sand Hills	4,120'	Lowest county HP, along with Phillips County. Concrete block and a large stump marking the HP.
Washington	Presidents Hill	5,420'	An imperceptible rise on a county line road.
Weld	Bison Butte	6,385'	Guided nature walk is part of the bargain on the Terry Bison Ranch.
Yuma	Yuma corner	4,445'	An imperceptible rise on a county line road.

Colorado County Map

Map Courtesy of Digital Map Store. Note that this map does not include the newly created Broomfield County, which was carved out between Boulder and Adams counties.

External Resources

James Peak, Gilpin County

Hiking Colorado's Summits (guidebook)

www.cohp.org

Colorado Counties lists of John

Honor Roll

Flat Top Mountain, Garfield County

Credit to cohp.org and peakbagger.com for this list of people who have touched all of Colorado's county highpoints. Please let me know of others who should be on this list.

Bushnell Peak, Fremont County

Kevin Baker
Layne Bracy
John Collard
Renata Collard
Phil Congdon
Beckie Covill
Dave Covill
Teresa Gergen
Adam Helman
Doug Hill
Dawn Howard
Kirk Mallory
John Kirk
Bob Martin
John Mitchler
S Mueller
Dan Nielsen
David Olson
Gerry Roach
Jennifer Roach
Gary Swing
Patrick Thornley
G Vandersluis
Charlie Winger
Jobe Wymore